Lady Jane (film)

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Lady Jane
Cary Elwes and Helena Bonham Carter on VHS cover.
Directed by	Trevor Nunn
Produced by	Peter Snell
Written by	David Edgar Chris Bryant (story)
Starring	Helena Bonham Carter Cary Elwes Patrick Stewart Jane Lapotaire
Music by	Stephen Oliver
Cinematography	Douglas Slocombe
Editing by	Anne V. Coates
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	February 7, 1986 February 7, 1986
Running time	141 min
Country	England
Language	English
Budget	$8.5 million
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Lady Jane is a 1986 British costume drama romance film directed by Trevor Nunn, written by David Edgar, and stars Helena Bonham Carter in the title role. It tells the story of Lady Jane Grey the Nine Days' Queen, on her reign and romance with husband Guilford Dudley. The film features several members of The Royal Shakespeare Company. It is mainly remembered as Helena Bonham Carter's first major film role.

Taglines:

Under the shadow of the axe...
Together they ruled England for 9 days.

1 Plot summary
2 Cast
3 Historical accuracy
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into uncertainty because of the frail health and minority of his heir Edward VI. Anticipating the young king's imminent death from Consumption and anxious to keep England true to the Reformation by keeping the Catholic Mary from the throne, John Dudley, Lord President of the Council, second only to the king in power, marries his son Guilford to Lady Jane Grey and has the royal physician keep the young king alive (though in excruciating pain) long enough to get him to name Lady Jane his heir.

Jane is not happy with the proposed marriage, and has to be coerced by her parents. At first Jane and Guilford decide to treat this purely as a marriage of convenience, but then fall deeply in love. Jane is placed on the throne after Edward dies. She is troubled by the questionable legality of her accession; but, in consultation with Guilford, she turns the tables on John Dudley and the others who thought to manipulate her like a puppet.

After only nine days, however, Queen Jane is abandoned by her council precisely because of her reformist designs for the country. The council, then, goes over to Mary I of England, who at first imprisons Jane and Guilford. After Jane's father, the Duke of Suffolk, raises a rebellion to restore her to the throne — presumably in concert with Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, Mary has Jane and Guilford executed at the insistence of the Spanish ambassador.

[edit] Cast

Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Jane Grey
Cary Elwes as Guilford Dudley, Jane's husband
Jane Lapotaire as Queen Mary
Patrick Stewart as Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, Jane's father
Sara Kestelman as Lady Frances Brandon, Jane's mother
Michael Hordern as Doctor Feckenham
John Wood as John Dudley, Duke of Nothumberland
Jill Bennett as Mrs. Ellen, Lady-in-Waiting
Warren Saire as King Edward VI

[edit] Historical accuracy

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Although the film is correct to portray Jane as a precocious and talented scholar, apart from that it contains a number of historical inaccuracies.

In particular, it appears that Jane and Guilford did not get on well with each other, and lived apart for most of their brief marriage. Jane returned to her parents' house after her marriage, and Guilford's mother came and forced her to leave after a few weeks. Jane refused to make her husband king when she was made queen, offering instead to make him a duke. Guilford then threw a temper tantrum and attempted to leave the castle, which Jane refused to allow because of the way it would look to the public.

Jane was not a social reformer during her reign as the film portrays her. Indeed, that type of social reform was not part of political thinking during the Tudor era.

Also Mary and Jane actually had a very good relationship. Mary at first insisted that Jane not be executed. It was only after the revolt led by Jane's father the Duke of Suffolk (who did not do so in an attempt to save Jane but rather to stop Mary's marriage to Prince Philip of Spain) that Mary's advisers made it obvious that she was too much of a liability to be allowed to live. Mary still tried to save her cousin's soul by sending an important priest to try to convert her to Catholicism.

There could also be a problem with the treatment of Jane's age. Her exact date of birth is uncertain, but she was born in October 1537, which made her 15 at the time of her wedding and brief reign, and 16 when she was executed. In the beginning of the film she is described as just turned 16. Later, although there is not much explicit detail, Jane and Guilford are shown in bed together and implied to be sexually active. However recently one historian has claimed that she was born in early 1537, so the film may have been right after all. (In real life Helena Bonham Carter was 18 when it was filmed.) It must be remembered that what we would now see as very early marriages were the rule rather than the exception amongst the nobility at that time.